Category Archives: Travel

Biryani magic! Hyderabad declared ‘creative’ city in gastronomy category by UNESCO

Hyderabad is one of the two cities from India, among the total 66 smart cities selected by the UNESCO across the globe.

Image of biryani used for representational purposes.

Hyderabad :

The city of Hyderabad has been adjudged as ‘Creative City’ in gastronomy category by the UNESCO on the occasion of World Cities Day on Thursday.

Hyderabad is one of the two cities from India, among the total 66 smart cities selected by the UNESCO across the globe. The other city from India, Mumbai has been selected as a smart city in the film category.

Municipal administration and industries minister KT Rama Rao expressed happiness over Hyderabad’s ranking.  “It is a great effort by principal secretary municipal administration Arvind Kumar and his team,” Rama Rao said.

It may be mentioned here that Hyderabad has a number of starred restaurants and known for the delicious “Hyderabad Biryani”. The city of pearls is also famous for its rich food culture and heritage.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Express News Service / October 31st, 2019

Incubated in IIT-Hyderabad, start-up PURE EV raises VC Nannapaneni’s funding

PURE EV has also been developing a prototype of HVDC electric truck/bus lithium battery modules and intends to showcase them in 2020 for potential collaborations.

VC Nannapaneni is working on the development of high-speed and long-range scooters and motorcycles

Hyderabad :

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad-incubated startup PURE EV has raised venture capital funding from Hyderabad-based pharmaceuticals visionary VC Nannapaneni, in his personal capacity. The funding is coming at an opportune moment for the company with its plans for expansion of its manufacturing capacity and R&D initiatives. It is working on the development of high-speed and long-range scooter and motorcycle, which are scheduled for commercial launch in October this year and early 2020 respectively.

PURE EV has also been developing a prototype of HVDC electric truck/bus lithium battery modules and intends to showcase them in 2020 for potential collaborations. PURE EV is now looking to ramp up its EV manufacturing capacity to 2000 units per month by October 2019.

The company was founded in 2016 by Dr Nishanth Dongari, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, and is led by Rohit Vadera, an alumnus of IIT Bombay. The startup will continue to collaborate with R&D laboratories of IIT Hyderabad.

PURE EV recently launched four two-wheeler models – ‘EGNITE,’ ‘ETRANCE,’ ‘EPLUTO’ and ‘ETRON’. It aims to deploy over 10,000 electric vehicles on the road during 2019-20. It has established an 18,000-sqft state-of-the-art facility, co-located with IIT Hyderabad, for cutting-edge research and development and for large-scale production of electric vehicles and electric batteries.

The company had also recently launched its CMVR-exempted electric vehicles commercially in the market and is actively working on building strategic partnerships for vehicle financing and branding collaboration. Nannapaneni, speaking about his reasons for the investment, said, “We hope they are able to succeed in their vision to promote usage of electric vehicles amongst the masses.”

“The funding will be primarily utilised for expanding the manufacturing capacity by installation of an automated assembly line,” said Rohit Vadera, CEO, PURE EV.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / July 11th, 2019

Former NCC cadet from State scales Mt. Everest

Tukaram Amgoth  

He took the challenging South Col route to the summit

Tukaram Amgoth, a former NCC cadet and hailing from Telangana State, scaled Mount Everest from the most challenging South Col route on May 22 after he had started his climb from Nepal on April 6.

Mr. Amgoth of 2 (T) Bn NCC, Secunderabad Group, had been a cadet from 2015 to 2017 and had attended basic mountaineering course at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi through the NCC and secured ‘A’ grade. He was further selected in advance mountaineering course at Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering & Sports, Jammu and secured best technique award from the institution.

In 2016, Brigadier Abbay (Commandant, High Altitude Warfare School) had encouraged him to scale Mt. Everest from the South Col route and from then on he made up his mind to scale Mt Everest. Cadet Amgoth had scaled Mt Norbo (17,145 ft) in June 2016 scaled on Telangana Formation Day and hoisted Telangana Flag.

In June 2017 he had scaled Mt Rudragaira Peak (19,091 ft) on Telangana Formation Day in adverse climatic conditions. In the same year on July 2017 he has also scaled Mt Stok Kangri (20,187 ft) along with four other friends who had sponsored him.

Thereafter, he scaled the highest mountain peak of Africa Mt Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft) in July 2018 and hoisted the National flag. He was also honoured by President Ramnath Kovind and Governor of AP & Telangana State E.S.L Narasimhan, a press release said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – May 24th, 2019

Women’s exhibition: ‘Taruni Fair’ begins at all-women metro station in Hyderabad

A village zone reflecting Telangana Rural life is created with children’s play area with amusement rides, food courts, etc.


HMRL MD NVS Reddy and Shikha Goel, Additional Commissioner of Police, at the inaugural ‘Taruni Fair‘ held at Taruni Madhura Nagar Metro Station in Hyderabad on Saturday | Express

Hyderabad :

An exclusive women’s exhibition called ‘Taruni Fair’ was opened at Taruni Madhura Nagar Metro Station on Saturday. The exhibition, with as many as 150 stalls, will be open for the next two months, everyday between 5.30 pm and 10.30 pm. Entry is free.

HMRL Managing Director, NVS Reddy, Director of Municipal Administration, Telangana, T K Sreedevi, GHMC Zonal Commissioner of Serlingampally zone, D Harichandana, Additional Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad city, Shika Goel, Managing Director of Fernandez Group of Hospitals, Evita Fernandez, Foundation for Futuristic Cities, Karuna Gopal, Granules India, Cofounder, Uma Chigurupati and others were present.     

A village zone reflecting Telangana Rural life is created with children’s play area with amusement rides, food courts, etc. HMRL looks at the Hyderabad Metro project not as a simple transportation engineering project but as an instrument to promote many wider socio-economic goals. As a part of this vision,  Taruni Madhuranagar metro station along with the two-acre open area around the station is being made a hub of activities to promote women empowerment and gender equality, NVS Reddy said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home>Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / April 21st, 2019

History left in ruins

Cannons made over two centuries ago and iron foundries lie neglected

History, in all probability, will not repeat itself, especially in the case of Nirmal town that has seen glorious days over two centuries ago. Some of that magnificence, however, can be restored if the State government focuses on preserving whatever that is left of local forts, the iron foundries and the locally-made cannons. This district headquarter town, once a part of the united Adilabad district, is historically one of the most important places in Telangana, but remains neglected, according to experts.

The locally-made cannons, the ones that have remained after decades of plunder and vandalism of historical artefacts at the forts and whatever remains of the unique iron foundries where the cannons were manufactured, are crying for attention.

Two cannons are lying neglected within the premises of the District Collectorate in the town, while another lies under a tree in a locality close to Khazana Cheruvu. The third cannon at the Collectorate is well-preserved. There are a few that can still be found in the ruins of the local forts like Khilla Gutta, besides the one at Wadoor in Neredigonda mandal of Adilabad district, about 35 km from Nirmal town.

Among the well cared for cannons in the historic town are the ones that adorn the SP’s camp office, Tahsildar office, the TNGO union office fire station and the police station. These are of varying sizes and calibre, the ones at the Collectorate and SP’s camp office being the largest, and they were brought down from the fort ruins after the formation of the district in September 2016.

“The Nirmal town still has 22 locally-made cannons in the two foundries that were established by French engineers in the late 1700s,” said S. Jaikishan, a member of Salarjung Museum Board, who is an expert on the history of cannons in Telangana, especially those in Nirmal town. He belongs to the Hyderabad-based NGO, Deccan Archaeological and Cultural Research Institute, which is involved in the conservation and preservation of Indian heritage. The expert, who has researched into the history of Nirmal with respect to its foundries and weapons factories, said more cannons lie buried under the earth at a location near Venkateshwara temple in the town, which need to be unearthed. He offered to provide details of each and every existing cannon of Nirmal to be displayed, provided that the government installs those on special pedestals.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by S. Harpal Singh / Nirmal – April 16th, 2019

Hyderabad gets all-women metro station at Madhuranagar

While the station is open for all passengers irrespective of gender, it will be managed by women employees and will soon have shops exclusively catering to the needs of women and children.


Image of a HMRL station used for representational purpose only (File Photo | EPS)

Hyderabad :

For the first time in the country, and perhaps in the world, Hyderabad Metro Rail has set up an all-women station catering to the needs of women. Madhuranagar Metro Station of Corridor – III (Blue Line) has been renamed ‘Taruni Madhuranagar’ metro station.  While the station is open for all passengers irrespective of gender, it will be managed by women employees and will soon have shops exclusively catering to the needs of women and children.

HMRL looks at the Hyderabad Metro not as a simple transportation engineering project but as an instrument to promote wider socio-economic goals. As a part of this vision, Taruni Madhuranagar metro station along with two-acre open area around the station is being made a hub of activities to promote women empowerment and gender equality, HMRL Managing Director, NVS Reddy said. A women-centric exhibition will be held for the next 60 days at Taruni Madhuranagar which will open soon, he added. 

There will be an online slogan competition on women empowerment and gender equality, wherein slogans can be submitted online on HMRL’s website — https://hmrl.co.in. Competitions for children will be held in painting, drawing, essays, elocution, music, etc. Competitions in Rangoli, cooking, performing arts, etc would be held for women.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / April 06th, 2019

Ready to defy all odds in the ascent to glory

Everest expedition team includes a diabetic and a former auto driver

Scaling the Mount Everest is no mean feat, even for a seasoned mountaineer, but that is no deterrent for Hyderabad-based entrepreneur Nitin Somalaraju, who just might have to push his limits a tad more than the others, given his medical history.

Nitin, 28, who has scaled Mera Peak (6476 meters), and Stok Kangri (6154 meters) in 2017 and 2018 respectively, aspires to become the first diabetic to conquer the world’s tallest peak.

Since he is diabetic, he is prone to develop edema (swelling caused by excess fluid trapped in body tissues) and frost bite in frigid temperatures. “I took precautions to prevent frost bite and edema and did not suffer from either when I scaled those two mountains. I consider mountaineering a high endurance activity. Unlike other endurance sports where people feel fatigued as they reach the end of an activity, one needs to become stronger when they are about to climb a mountain,” Nitin said, adding that he wants to spread message on the importance of maintaining a physically active lifestyle.

Another youth who stands out in the group is G. Thirupathi Reddy (23), who until a few years ago, drove an autorickshaw along with his father in Yellakonda village of Vikarabad district to earn livelihood, and pursue academics on the side.

In 2015, when he read about ace mountainer Malli Masthan Babu’s death during an expedition, he started harbouring aspirations of becoming a mountaineer. He joined Rock Climbing School, Bhongir, and scaled mountains in Africa and Australia. Since those feats, he has set his sights on Mt. Everest.

Since the expedition will cost ₹ 29 lakh per head, he managed to get ₹ 18 lakhs from BDL employees social organisation Winners Foundation which collected the amount from donors while Transcend Adventures has chipped in with ₹4 lakh. His father Gopal Reddy mortgaged their only property — a one-acre agriculture land — and secured ₹5 lakh for the purpose.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – April 02nd, 2019

Sunitha Simon is one of the few Triumph Thunderbird storm riders in India

The woman, the machine, the kick. The pride is nothing without responsibility and safety, says Thunderbird Storm rider Sunita Simon

It was love at first sight. Roughly two years ago, Sunitha Simon’s eyes fell on the Triumph Thunderbird Storm when she accompanied her friend to a high-end two-wheeler showroom.

Completely besotted, Sunitha couldn’t get the 350 kg, 1700cc twin cylinder beast out of her mind. “I can cycle, but on bikes, I’ve always been a pillion rider. I had never considered riding a two-wheeler until I saw it that day,” Sunitha recalls with a smile. She kept dreaming of owning it.

Owning it wasn’t simple. First, she had to learn to ride a two-wheeler. Since neither of her parents rode a two-wheeler, she got her driver to teach her on his Hero Honda.

After 20 days of daily lessons and practice, she was “confident about riding the vehicle on which I was learning. I took another couple of days to ride it on my own around my neighbourhood.” All this preparation was just enable her to ride the Thunderbird Storm.

Even when she brought the bike home, her mother had to persuaded to let Sunitha ride it; she took her own time to agree. “My bike might weigh 350 kg on the stand, but when I am riding it, it feels nimble. To me, riding the bike is all about challenging my limits. I’ve always done and wanted to do what is unconventional. So when I wanted to pick the beast, my dad was not surprised. Besides, probably no other girl in India rides the Thunderbird Storm in India as far as I know, so that makes me proud of myself,” says Sunitha.

Sunitha is among the handful of owners and riders of this classic British engineering beauty. She still considers herself a baby-rider and is learning to ride like a pro with a small group of riders.

On Women’s Day, Triumph India featured Sunitha on their Facebook homepage as one of the few Thunderbird Storm riders in India. As a proud owner of the beast, she didn’t modify the bike at all and wants to ride it the way it should be; “The thundering sound is its ultimate ornament,” she says.

Riding may give Sunitha immense confidence, but at the same time she’s not big on speed. “I prefer relaxed rides. My bike rides help me meet my other two passions — travel and food. However, when on a ride one has to be careful of what they eat. I learnt it the hard way. On one my rides, I couldn’t resist the lassi I saw at a dhaba. After a glassful, I couldn’t continue the ride as I felt sleepy. I was forced to stop and that held back the other riders. Thankfully, when we go on rides, it is all about taking care of each other’s back,” adds Sunitha.

A marketing professional with a leading telecom brand, Sunitha is a handloom sari-clad young girl at work. She says her newest passion i.e., riding has extended her wardrobe. “From shoes to the helmet, riders need their gear. The gear is as important as knowing how to control a vehicle. I wear a L52 helmet, boots and jacket by Triumph, Scott’s gloves and knee guard. Sadly most of the stuff isn’t made for women. So getting a jacket for my size was a big task, Finally I settled for jacket that is a size bigger because there is no way I would ride without my gear. It’s safety and responsibility over style,” assures Sunitha.

She is thrilled to bits that one brand has come out with gloves for women, “with a pink band around the knuckles,” she chuckles.

Having done three long rides that includes a trip to Araku, Tippeshwar and Bengaluru, Sunitha is looking forward to more rides. “These rides are helping me discover places. I love being independent, so going with a big group doesn’t serve my purpose. I ride with a small group of like-minded peopleto plan and ride better,” she adds.

What’s next? “I want to learn to go off-roading for which I want a bike with better ground clearance, so that is definitely playing on my mind now.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad > Motorycylce Diaries / by Prabalika M . Borah / March 28th, 2019

All-women crew in Air India flights today

To mark International Women’s Day

AI525 from Hyderabad to Bhubaneshwar and back would be flown by an all-women crew on March 8 (Friday) operated by Captain Sapna Patel and First Officer Prajakta Chougule with cabin crew Manisha, S.L. Sunita, Prachi and Durge. This is one of the 40 domestic and short-haul flights to be operated by 12 all-women crew across the country to mark the International Women’s Day.

Women cockpit and cabin crew of Air India would operate both wide and narrow body aircraft to all corners of the world and across the nation as a mark of respect for women in India, a press release said.

For most of these flights, technical services would be provided by women aircraft engineers, technicians and flight dispatchers, while women duty managers, counter staff, helpers and doctors would work for most of these flights. “It’s a moment of pride and honour for Air Indians that our women employees are leaving their mark in the aviation sector on a global scale,” said Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani.

Air India would be deploying its B787 Dreamliners and B777s to be operated by women pilots and attended by women cabin crew in the sectors: Delhi- Sydney, Mumbai- London, Delhi-Rome, Delhi- London, Mumbai-Delhi-Shanghai, Delhi-Paris, Mumbai-Newark, Mumbai-New York, Delhi-New York, Delhi-Washington, Delhi-Chicago and Delhi-San Francisco, the release added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – March 08th, 2019

City of Nizams to feature in UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network?

The UCCN, created in 2004, was aimed at placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of developmental and cooperation plans at local and international levels respectively.


UNESCO official Junhi Han with Prinicipal Secretary Arvind Kumar in Hyderabad on Saturday | Express

Hyderabad :

Apart from the World Heritage Site tag for Golconda Fort and Qutub Shahi Tombs, the State government officials are now trying to get Hyderabad into UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network (UCCN). Express learnt that the same was discussed when Junhi Han, the Chief of Culture Department and Programme Specialist at the UNESCO visited the State and met the MAUD Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar, Director of Heritage Telangana NR Visalatchy and others Friday. 

An official present in the meeting said, “We felt that the outcome of the meeting was very positive. As of now Chennai is in the Network for its music, Jaipur for literature. We want Hyderabad to be in it on the basis of its heritage and other corresponding features.” 

The UCCN, created in 2004, was aimed at placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of developmental and cooperation plans at local and international levels respectively. Needless to say, if Hyderabad figures in the list, which already comprises Chennai and Jaipur from India, it would bolster its creative industry. The Network covers seven creative fields — crafts and folk arts, media arts, film, design, gastronomy, literature and music.

Experts opined if Hyderabad were to be in the Network it could be on the filed of crafts and folk arts, which would include its age-old bidriware craftworks or kalamkari, which is a type of hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile. Apart from that discussions were also held on World Heritage Site tag, which figured in Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar’s tweet.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Aihik Sur / Express News Service / March 10th, 2019